Lapidary tumbling barrel

ABSTRACT

A RUBBER LAPIDARY TUMBLING BARREL HAVING A WATER TIGHT SEAL FORMED OF A TWO-PART METAL COVER WHEREIN ONE PART COMPRESSES THE RUBBER BARREL INTO SEALING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SECOND PART.

12,1971 G. T. CHRISTENSEN 3,553,902

' LAPIDARYEUMBLING BARREL med Dec. 27. 1968 V INVENT OR 6.4%) 7,

ATTORNEYS United States Patent Oflice 3,553,902 Patented Jan. 12, 1971 3,553,902 LAPIDARY TUMBLING BARREL Gary T. Christensen, 9515 25th NW., Seattle, Wash. 98107 Filed Dec. 27, 1968, Ser. No. 787,458 Int. Cl. Ed 15/22 US. Cl. 51--164 4 Claims BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention In the grinding and polishing of rough stones into smooth objects of art, a tumbling drum containing the objects to be ground and polished as well as a liquid or powder grinding media is placed on power driven rollers and rotated so as to tumble the contents until the desired grinding and/ or polishing is accomplished.

Description of the prior art Most prior art tumbling barrels have openings which are somewhat smaller than the overall diameter of the barrel leaving many corners and portions of the tumbling barrel which are very difficult to clean with the result that some of the grinding material might remain in the barrel from one grinding operation into the next in such a way to spoil the objects of art, rather than properly grind and polish them. Another problem with prior art tumbling barrels is that the seal of the cover is oftentimes not waterproof and, by its nature, is incapable of being made completely waterproof in a simple manner. Many of the tumbling barrels of the prior art are not cylindrical in outside diameter and tend to bounce on the driven rolls, rather than rotate smoothly thereon.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention consists of a molded rubber tumbling barrel having a smooth cylindrical outer surface and a plurality of relatively short straight inside walls. A sealed cover having a diameter of less than the cylindrical diameter of the barrel is removably attached to one end thereof with the barrel being completely open at one end with the cover removed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1' is a side elevation of the invention shown in place on a pair of drive rollers;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the invention; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of the sealing of the cover to the barrel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures the reference numeral 10 indicates generally a lapidary barrel constructed in accordance with the invention.

The lapidary barrel 10 has a cylindrical outer surface 11 and is adapted to be supported on and rotated by a pair of driven rollers 12, 13 arranged in spaced apart parallel relation and driven by means (not shown) in a conventional manner. The lapidary barrel 10 is formed of rubber and is molded with a flat end wall 14 and a plurality of side walls 15 which are straight and intersect to form a tumbling surface for the contents of the tumbling barrel 10. The outer face of the open end of the barrel 10 is recessed at 1'6, and the inner edge is recessed at 17, as can be best seen in FIG. 2. A sealing disc 18 is provided with an internal rubber face 19 and is adapted to engage in the recess 17 with the rubber face 19 directed toward the inside of the barrel 10. A threaded bolt 20 is integrally secured to the center of the disc 18 and extends outwardly therefrom oppositely of the end wall 14. A metal cover 21 has a flat disc 22 having an integral depending flange generally indicated at 23 extending from the peripheral edge thereof. The depending flange 23 has an outwardly flared portion 24 extending from the disc 22, and a generally cylindrical portion 25 extending integrally from the flared portion 24.

The recesses 16 and 17 on the open end of the drum 10 define therebetween an upstanding lip 26 which, being formed of rubber, is flexible and deformable under pressure.

In the use and operation of the invention, the drum 10 is positioned on its end wall 14, and the material to be ground and polished as well as the grinding and polishing medium is placed therein. The disc 18 is then inserted into the recess 17 with the rubber surface 19 in contact with the rubber base of the recess 17. The cover 21 is then engaged with the open end of the drum 10 with the flared portion 24 and the cylindrical portion 25 of the flange 23 engaging in the recess 16 so that the flared portion 24 inwardly compresses the lip 26 causing it to engage the outer edge of the disc 18 and seal the disc 18 to the drum 10. On placing the cover 21 on the drum 10, the bolt 20 passes upwardly through a bore 27 in the center of the cover 21, and a washer 28 is engaged thereover followed by a wing nut 29. Tightening of the wing nut 29 onto the bolt 20 binds the cover 21 to the disc 18 so that neither the cover 21 nor the disc 18 can be removed from the drum 10 until the wing nut 29 is loosened.

Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A lapidary tumbling barrel comprising:

a molded rubber cylindrical barrel having an open end and a closed end, said barrel having a flange formed on the inner face adjacent the open end thereof,

a sealing disc seated on said flange,

a cover for said open end, said cover having a depending annular flange with a portion of said flange being flared to provide a constricting distortion of the edge of the open end of said barrel to effect sealing between said disc and saidbarrel when said cover is mounted on said open end, and

means extending between said disc and said cover for detachably securing said cover to said disc.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said sealing disc has an inner rubber surface in engagement with said flange on said rubber barrel.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein an external 7 annular recess is formed in the free edge'of said barrel and said flange on said cover engages in said external recess.

1 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1954 Stine 150 .5X 9/1964 Smith 51-164 1/1969 Vanderbur et al. 150.5

TRAVIS S MCGEHEE, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

